A friend of mine was recently in a terrible accident when she was a pedestrian and the driver of the vehicle did not have insurance as one of the uninsured motorists. I was relating the story to another friend, who quickly said that in her state they have mandatory uninsured motorists coverage so that would never happen to her.

I don’t want to rain on anyone’s parade but the truth is that even if your state has mandatory car insurance, there are still uninsured motorists without coverage on the roadways.

Figures from the Insurance Information Institute show that uninsured motorist estimates range from a low of 4% in Massachusetts to a high of 28% in Mississippi. So, as you drive down the road, you may have at least one car near you that is uninsured. Scary thought isn’t it?

Although many states require proof of insurance to register a vehicle, that proof only needs to be a binder of insurance to show the vehicle owner has paid some percentage of the premium. Many times this is the only payment that will be made on a policy before it is cancelled. The vehicle registration is good for a year so unless the vehicle owner has an accident or gets pulled over for a violation, they can be driving for months with no insurance.

Uninsured motorists coverage is liability insurance and covers you only if you are found at fault in an accident. It would not cover damage to your vehicle. For me, the coverage, is less that 7% of my premium and I consider it one of the more important coverages on my policy. If I am unlucky enough to have an accident where the driver at fault is uninsured, I would like to think that there would be a way for me to be compensated for my injuries and lost wages.

So if you are looking for ways to reduce your premium, compare prices between carriers with Wise Insurance Quotes online system before you start eliminating certain coverages. Especially if you have no health insurance, being injured by uninsured motorists can be catastrophic.